OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A Maryland state court has ruled that a Democrat-drawn congressional map is an illegal partisan gerrymander while ordering the state legislature to redraw the boundaries ahead of the 2022 elections.
The districts were drawn by the Democrat-controlled legislature and passed over GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto, according to a Politico report. If left as-is, the new map following the 2020 Census is likely to lead to an 8-0 Democratic sweep for the state “in blue-leaning years.”
Already, seven of eight districts are solid Democratic strongholds, but there is a lone Republican district in the state along its eastern shore, which is currently represented by Rep. Andy Harris. The district was redrawn from solid Republican to make it far more competitive; President Joe Biden carried the newly drawn version by less than 1 percent in 2020.
“The limitation of the undue extension of power by any branch of government must be exercised to ensure that the will of the people is heard, no matter under which political placard those governing reside,” Judge Lynne Battaglia, a senior judge serving on the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, noted in her opinion. “The 2021 Congressional Plan is unconstitutional, and subverts the will of those governed.”
Politico adds:
Her opinion could — and likely will — be appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. In the meantime, Battaglia ordered that the state legislature redraw the maps by March 30, and she scheduled a hearing about the redrawn maps on April 1.
Battaglia had previously served on the state’s highest court for 15 years and retired in 2016. She was nominated to her role by then-Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening.
The ruling came in a combined decision stemming from a pair of suits, including a challenge to the maps backed by the group Fair Maps Maryland, an anti-gerrymandering group led by a former Hogan adviser.
“Not only did the judge rule in favor of our plaintiffs, but she confirmed that there is Maryland state law that applies to partisan gerrymandering, something the Attorney General’s office vigorously argued against,” the group said in an unsigned statement released on the heels of Battaglia’s ruling. “This would be massive news in its own right but combined with a favorable ruling, it’s a political earthquake.”
Politico noted that the Maryland Court of Appeals previously moved the state’s primary elections from late June to mid-July in an order earlier this month as part of a case challenging the state’s redrawn legislative districts.
Last month, a report noted that Republicans had lost a string of lawsuits challenging redrawn congressional districts they believe were gerrymandered, results of which could cost the party House seats.
Democrat-controlled states have managed to successfully redraw congressional districts that shut out remaining GOP strongholds while Republican-led states have run up against successful legal challenges to their maps — all of which could cost the party seats in Congress later this year when they were expected to do well in the midterm elections as President Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to tank.
Historically, the party not holding the White House has done well during midterm elections and Republicans were expected to do so, too, but increasingly state Democrats appear to be using redistricting as a means of not only solidifying blue seats but eking out new seats by redrawing districts long held by Republicans.
Republicans lost challenges to redrawn maps in North Carolina and New Jersey, while a group of GOP lawmakers filed suit against a map signed into existence by New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Republicans were also considering a challenge to Pennsylvania’s redrawn map.
“From the outset, Democrats made clear their intentions of leveraging an activist judiciary to seize political gain despite the Republican-led legislature’s open, transparent, constitutional process,” the North Carolina GOP said in a statement after a state Supreme Court ruling upheld the map. “The NCGOP looks forward to another open, constitutional process for the legislature to redraw these maps and sincerely hope the constitutional order is not upended yet again by Democrats writing policy from the bench.”
